Roasted Stuffed Pumpkin October 17, 2007

Our fall CSA boxes are full of all types of squash, including two cute little pumpkins. They included a recipe for roasted, stuffed pumpkin and that’s what I made tonight.

2 small pumpkins
1 acorn squash
2 cups quinoa, cooked
1/2 red onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 tart apple (granny smith), diced
Herbs: sage, thyme, oregano
Paprika
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup butter, small pices
Soy sauce

Cut off the top of the pumpkins and scrap out the insides. Cut the acorn squash in half and clean out. Mix all the ingredients (except stock, butter and soy sauce) in a large bowl. Add stock, butter and soy sauce to taste. Pack loosely into pumpkins (and squash), replace lid and bake on oiled cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes at 325 degrees.

Notes: I had extra quinoa mixture and just put it in the fridge for leftovers. The pumpkins were great and roasted nicely. Check to make sure they are done with a knife, should be tender when done. I added soy sauce on top at the end.

Servings: 4 full meals plus extra quinoa mixture.

Apple Tart October 15, 2007

It’s fall so time for apples. I didn’t really use a recipe for this but threw some things together to make a little apple tart with some trans fat FREE puff pastry from Whole Foods.

5-6 sweet apples
2 T. butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 T. Splenda
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
1 sheet puff pastry

Slice all the apples and saute with butter on the stove. Add sugar and spices and cook apples until soft. Place puff pastry on a cookie sheet and crimp up the edges to hold the apple mixture. Put apples onto the puff pastry and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup October 15, 2007

This was the first soup of the fall and was perfect. This is also the first recipe I’ve made from my Bon Appetite magazine (Thanks Jarrod & Marti!). The sweet potatoes were from our CSA, as was the garlic and onion.

1 T. Olive Oil
10-15 oz Chorizo Sausage (hard if you can find it, but I used the soft, crumbly kind and it worked well.)
2 Medium Onions – chopped
2 cloves garlic – diced
2 pounds sweet potatoes – peeled and chopped
1 pound white potatoes – peeled and chopped
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon smoked Paprika
1 package frozen spinach

Cook sausage in olive oil for about 8 minutes until browned. Take out of pot and drain on paper towel. Add onion and garlic to the pot and sauté for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for about 12 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2o minutes until potatoes are soft and cooked. Add spinach and sausage and heat through.

We ate soup and salad. The salad was topped with some radishes (CSA), cucumbers, raspberries and walnuts with a raspberry/walnut vinaigrette.

Notes: Next time I’d like to find the hard sausage from the meat market in Lincoln Square.

Servings: 6-8

Artichoke Heart & Red Pepper Dip October 15, 2007

I found this unbelievably easy, healthy and tasty dip through the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog on the right (thanks Julia!). It was just so basic and tasty, although I changes somethings around since I’m not vegan and I love cheese.

1 can (14oz) artichoke hearts
1/2 cup roasted red pepper – from a jar
1 clove garlic
1 T. tahini
Salt & Pepper
1/4 cup grated Fontina cheese

Mix everything in the food processor until blended. Eat with chips or fresh vegetables!

Notes: I may add in garbanzo beans next time.

Servings: Appetizer for 7 people. Gone in an hour.

Baked Pasta with Vegetables October 11, 2007

I got this recipe from watching Food Network and quickly scribbling down the recipe once I saw how easy it was. It was on Everyday Italian with Giada. I tend to use whatever vegetables are in season and would taste good with the dish.

1 sweet potato, chopped in small pieces
1 onion, chopped into big pieces
1 package of mushrooms, quartered
3 bell peppers (one red, two cubannelle peppers that came from our CSA today)
1-2 T. herbes de provence
1 package whole wheat penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce
1 cup fontina cheese

(NOTE: The original recipe calls for 2 summer squash instead of sweet potato, 1 cup frozen peas which I just didn’t have tonight, and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, which is just too much cheese for my taste.)

First throw all the vegetables on a cookie sheet sprayed with oil. Season with salt, pepper and herbes de provence and make sure all the vegetables are coated in oil. Roast for 15 minutes at 450. Next, boil and cook the pasta. Under cook it by a few minutes as it will continue to cook in the oven. Once the vegetables and pasta are ready, mix together with the cheese and marinara sauce. Put the pasta vegetable mixture into a casserole pan (the big size!) and bake for 25 minutes at 450.

Servings: 2 dinners and 4 lunches

Cabbage and Peanut Salad October 9, 2007

I’ve been making this salad all summer since it’s such a flavorful cold salad and great for lunch.

2 tablespoon hot chili sauce (I get this in the produce section next to the plastic containers of basil and other herbs)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 (16 ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and diced
1 cup snow peas, trimmed
4 small carrots, grated
2 cup finely shredded red cabbage
4 tablespoons chopped peanuts

Mix together the chili sauce, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix in cubed tofu and put in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Clean the snow peas and then blanch in boiling water for a couple minutes. Rinse under cold water immediately to cool. Toss in the cabbage, carrots, peas and peanuts with the tofu and sauce in a big bowl and serve.

Servings: Dinner for 2 and 2-3 lunches.

Notes: Last night I couldn’t find snow peas at Harvestime so I bought green beans instead. Not as good. Also, the original recipe calls for sweet chili sauce which I’ve tried before but prefer the spicy hot chili paste I used initially.

Send Me Your Pictures/Recipes October 5, 2007

I’ll be gone for the weekend in Minneapolis, so no recipes will be made or posted this weekend. But if you make something, take a picture and email it and the recipe to me! I’ll post it!

If not, I’ll be forced to take a picture of the reception food I’ll be eating at a small town Minnesota wedding held in a Knights of Columbus hall.

“Sloppy Joe” with Steamed Romanesco Broccoli October 4, 2007

Tonight I tried out some vegetarian sloppy joe, out of a box!

It’s a mix of soy and seasonings. It turned out well. All you do is boil water, add the mix, 1 T. of tomato paste, 1 T. of olive oil and simmer for five minutes.

I finally used the romanesco broccoli we got in our CSA box. I treated it just like regular broccoli and just chopped it up to steam.

The meal came together with an open faced sloppy joe sandwich on a toasted piece of high fiber bread with a piece of purple lettuce (nice bitter crunch).

Quinoa Salad with Blue Cheese and Veggies October 2, 2007

Quinoa is such a tasty grain that is high in protein and has a decent amount of fiber. I’ve made many variations of this quinoa salad.

Quinoa Salad with Blue Cheese and Veggies

2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
1 T. butter or Olive Oil
1 package mushrooms – sliced
1 can artichoke hearts – quartered
1 package spinach – washed
1/4-1/2 cup blue cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T. red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook quinoa according to package directions. I cooked mine in a rice steamer and it cooks the exact same way, which is very easy. Sautee mushrooms and artichoke hearts in butter or olive oil on the stove until soft and browned. Add spinach to wilt. Season with salt/pepper.

Once quinoa is finished, mix with veggies and blue cheese. Then mix oil and vinegar and pour over salad. Stir and add salt/pepper to taste.

Salad is great warm with some tomatoes or even red bell pepper on top or cold for lunch.

Notes: I’ve made this salad with tofu, garbanzo beans, broccoli, bell pepper, goat cheese, feta cheese etc. Almost any vegetable or soft cheese will work. I’ve also used a citrus dressing with olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest.

Serves: 2 dinners and 3 lunches

Seaweed Salad October 1, 2007

I made this seaweed salad after seeing a tiny container of tasty looking seaweed salad at the New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City for $6. I’ll eat it for some lunches this week.

Seaweed Salad

Seedless Cucumber – thinly sliced
1/2 Red Onion – sliced
1/2 oz. Seaweed (I used the nori that should be used for sushi. Next time I’ll find an Asian market and find Wakame, which is what the recipe calls for.)
2 T. Red-wine vinegar
1 T. sugar
1 T. Mirin (I couldn’t find this at our local Jewel so I left it out and added a splash of soy sauce. Not sure if that is an accurate substitute though…)
2 T. toasted sesame seeds
1 t. Sesame oil
Salt and Pepper to tast

Slice one large seedless cucumber and mix with thin strips of seaweed. Toast sesame seeds for a few minutes in the oven and mix in. Mix liquids and stir in. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes: I will try to find Mirin next time, but it tastes good without. I will also try to find the correct seaweed. This seaweed was very difficult to cut even with a very sharp knife.

Serves: 4-5